


Care and Attention

by Scriberat



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hair Braiding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 03:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18683116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scriberat/pseuds/Scriberat
Summary: Koumei's hair is a mess. Kouha likes to fix it in his own way.





	Care and Attention

**Author's Note:**

> second day of the month of mei!

"Please?" Kouha begged, putting his hands together and giving Koumei the puppy-dog eyes.  
  
"No," Koumei said, turning back to his scrolls. He had important work to take care of.  
  
"C'mon, just once? Your hair is a mess! This'll totally improve it!"  
  
"I'm not letting you braid my hair, Kouha. That's that."  
  
"So unfair." Kouha pouted, then dove onto Koumei's lap and wrapped his arms around his brother's neck.  
  
"Just a few? Pleeeeeeeease, Mei-nii-san?" He squished his cheeks against Koumei's. Koumei sighed and put his scroll down.  
  
"One braid."  
  
"Thank you!" Kouha jumped off his lap and flitted to his ponytail, quickly freeing the unkempt tail and turning it into a long mane. He shook the hair out, toyed with it, got his fingers stuck in multiple places, and pouted again.  
  
"I can't braid this. It's too messy!"  
  
"Then are we done? I have work."  
  
"You smell bad."  
  
"Kouha, don't you dare--"  
  
"Bathtime!" And with that, Kouha dragged Koumei off to the baths, telling a servant to get a tub filled quickly for them both. As soon as they were inside, he barricaded the door.  
  
"Seriously?" Koumei asked, watching as Kouha kept the door out firmly shut. "Open it now. I don't have time for this." He went to open it, but he was no match for his little brother in strength.  
  
"Sorry, Mei-nii-san, but you really need a bath. Even your clothes start smelling funky as soon as they touch you. Your skin is looking worse than usual, too," Kouha said, pointing at a few bad eruptions. Koumei swatted his hand away in annoyance.  
  
"Cease," he said, his annoyance becoming vexation. Kouha leaned in and smiled.  
  
"Only if you get in the water~" The servsnt came by and bowed her head.  
  
"The bath is ready, Highnesses."  
  
"Thank you~" Kouha sang, pushing Koumei toward the tub. "We'll be fine to bathe on our own!"  
  
He stripped down hurriedly and looked over at Koumei, who, for his part, had taken the slow route and parted with his outer robe. With the third pout in an hour, Kouha stripped his brother down.  
  
"Wha-hey!" Koumei shouted as he was dumped unceremoniously into the hot water. He glared at Kouha, who just shrugged and hopped in.  
  
"There. Time to get clean."  
  
Koumei knew he would lose, and, to be honest, he had kind of wanted to. While he did need to work, it wasn't like what he was working on was needed until tomorrow. And he did need to bathe more frequently... Not to mention baths with Kouha were always relaxing and good for his skin.  
  
Even as he thought about this, Kouha was handing him a cloth soaked in one of his special oils, one for the body. He rubbed it in dutifully, then washed it off in practiced motions as Kouha worked on his hair, neglecting himself in favor of his brother.  
  
"You've already had a bath today?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"Then why are you in here?"  
  
"You don't relax, ever, unless one of us is with you, so, since En-nii-san is busy, I've elected to take care of you."  
  
"I don't need to be cared for."  
  
"You say that, but look at you. We leave you alone for five minutes and you're already losing any weight we got on you. Besides, you like this," Kouha said, dipping a bowl into the water. Koumei held his breath and closed his eyes as the water from the bowl spilled over his head and washed the shampoo out.  
  
"There! First part is done." Kouha continued with making Koumei's hair soft as Koumei kept working on his skin. It felt like silk when he was done with it. He kept rubbing it on his face, reveling in the feeling.  
  
"See? You like this," Kouha said, giving him a light punch.  
  
"So I do." Koumei felt his muscles lose tension and sighed happily. If not for what he needed to do, he would have stayed for ages. However...  
  
"I need to go, or else I'll be staying up until dawn."  
  
"You'd do that regardless," Kouha said. Koumei chose not to reply. Instead, he started fiddling with his hair as Kouha massaged a strengthener into his scalp. and washed it out again.  
  
"There! All clean!"  
  
"Thank you, Kouha. May I go, now?"  
  
"Not yet~ It still needs to be brushed and braided~" Kouha sang, hopping out and pulling a fresh robe on. He flipped the skirt of it around and twirled. Koumei lugged himself out of the cooling water and tugged a robe on, fastening it without much thought.  
  
In that time, Kouha set himself up to strike. He grabbed Koumei's arm and brought his elder brother to his apartment of the palace, sitting him down in a chair near a mirror and more products, and pulled out a brush.  
  
"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch," Koumei muttered rhythmically to Kouha's tugs.  
  
"Sorry, Mei-nii-san. There are so many tangles!" Indeed, were it not for the fact that Kouha knew what Koumei's hair was supposed to look like, he might have thought the rat's nest was just how it was. Slowly but surely, he brought the fuzzy nest of knots down to that silky smoothness he knew and loved to braid.  
  
Koumei sat patiently through the entire thing, part of him wondering if his Chuu'un was worried about him. His assistant, who followed him everywhere, had gone on a routine check of the castle perimeter, leaving him temporarily in the care of the guards --- and Kouha. He sighed and blew a lock out of his face. It returned.  
  
"Mei-nii-san, when was the last time you had a New Year's haircut?"  
  
"New Year's."  
  
"Have you trimmed it since?"  
  
"No, I haven't." Kouha's jaw dropped as he held up multiple feet.  
  
"You really ought to. You have split ends. Want me to...?"  
  
"Just braid it." Koumei prepared himself for the worst. Kouha set to happily, taking part of his bangs and playing with those, plaiting the short locks over his shoulders, then made multiple braids in the long strands, having to back up as he went on those. Through the whole thing, Koumei closed his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, because if he did, Kouha would never leave him alone, but he really did enjoy these moments.  
  
As Kouha braided, he talked about whatever was on his mind, telling Koumei about some of the wild things his soldiers had done while they were fighting, about how Junjun had gotten Reirei mad at her so they didn't speak until he intervened, all myriad of things that made Koumei smile.  
  
"There! All done!" Koumei opened his eyes and startled. Staring back at him was a young man who, if not the prettiest in the land, was at least halfway decent. The braids really made a difference. He waved his head back and forth, feeling the difference of their weight on his head.  
  
"They... meld with the rest of my hair," he muttered.  
  
"You said you didn't like the big showy braids, so I toned them down this time," Kouha said, smiling widely. "Next time, I'll get those split ends, too."  
  
"I'll just go to the hairdresser. Thank you, Kouha."  
  
He found himself touching those braids for some time after, smiling as he did so.

**Author's Note:**

> he didnt take them out until his next bath.


End file.
